School Me: Lessons I Didn't Want to Learn

Welcome to my class

With the start of the new semester in January, I became responsible for about 150 new students. (That's in addition to the nearly 50 others who are with me for the entire year.) Each of these students has a story, and as the semester progresses I begin to learn some of them.

An 8th grade boy in my class is a Spanish speaker. That's not surprising - 62% of the students at my school are Hispanic/Latino, and 40% are English Learners. I made the assumption that like most of the others he was from Mexico. Then I heard his story.

This boy is from El Salvador. He left - somehow - in order to escape the Mara Salvatrucha - or as they are more commonly know, the MS-13 gang. MS-13 was started in El Salvador by guerillas who fought in the civil war there. Later it spread thoughout Central America and then to the US as people began to escape the ongoing Central American conflicts in the 1980's. They are an especially violent and ruthless gang. In addition to the basic vicious tendencies shared by all gangs, their exposure to generations of violent political conflict in their home countries have hardened them even more.

Once you become a member of MS-13, the only way out is through death. If you try to leave, you will be killed. One example of this is the case of Edward Guzman:

"Many media groups have reported the case of Edward Guzman, an MS-13 member who left Guatemala to escape the gang lifestyle. Though only 14-years-old at the time, he was threatened with death by his fellow gang members if he attempted to quit the gang. He fled to the United States to escape the gang lifestyle. At the age of 16, on March 10, 2004, he was deported back to his home. He hid in his home for several days. His first day to venture out was March 20, 2004. He made it only 5 blocks where he was shot multiple times. It was believed he was killed as punishment for deserting the gang." (http://www.knowgangs.com/gang_resources/profiles/ms13)

So here sits this boy in my classroom. I have a list of things I am supposed to teach him. I understand this, and keep my expectations high for him, as I do for all my students. But I have to wonder . . . given his story, how important can my list really be to him?